Two gentlemen named John - Mr. Sutton from Skaneateles and Mr. Confer from Caroline - bookended our group of 18+ far-flung neighbors brought together this morning by the Finger Lakes Land Trust Spring Bird Quest (SBQ) at the Dorothy McIlroy Bird Sanctuary in Summerhill. As Suan has noted, we had our share of highlights. I also made a few stops along the way. Here's the report.
1. Etna Nature Preserve Route 366, Etna 6:20-6:40 AM 29 species, including WILSON'S WARBLER, SCARLET TANAGER, WOOD THRUSH, and WOOD DUCK This sleepy little preserve has, I admit, always been something of an afterthought for me. Today, however, it distinguished itself with maybe the best species-per-minute ratio I've ever had at a preserve during a SBQ. It also delivered one of the better surprises I've had in recent years, a SBQ life bird - a male WILSON'S WARBLER in the creekside corridor of woods and shrubs, right by the Land Trust sign. Upon hearing its song, I immediately suspected that it was something different, but I could not identify it by sound alone. The song had a rather musical quality and a two-part structure - a little like a House Wren but too slow and structured, a little like a Nashville Warbler but too low and late in the season, but very much unlike the usual fusillade of Wilson's Warbler chappity-chaps that I consider familiar. Eventually I got a fine diagnostic view of the whole bird, including black cap and thin black tail. Excellent Etna exultation ensued. The other surprises here included a WOOD THRUSH and a SCARLET TANAGER heard singing across Fall Creek. People sometimes ask me if I count birds identified FROM Land Trust preserves or only ON Land Trust preserves for the purpose of my SBQ fundraising tally. My answer is "from", in part because it's good for fundraising, and in part because of Kevin McGowan's David Cup principle of "it's volleyball [baseball], not tennis, the lines are in." But when I heard these two birds singing in the woods across the creek today, I realized there's actually another better reason. Protection of land means not only preservation of habitat on that very site, but also reduction of fragmentation and creation of corridors, which could well have contributed to the presence of these species here today. Who knows if those birds would even have been in those trees across the way if I had been standing in a yard or a parking lot? I'm going to give the Land Trust some credit by counting the birds, especially since the Land Trust makes contiguity of preserved land a significant priority when considering acquisitions. Chalk dust flies - fair ball! 2. Genung Nature Preserve Route 38, Freeville 6:45-7:15 AM 31 species, including MOURNING WARBLER, PINE WARBLER, CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER, and BLUE-WINGED WARBLER As if the Etna excitement weren't enough, Genung generated a genuine gem too - a singing MOURNING WARBLER, my first at this preserve. This bird sang repeatedly along the trail to the right as one advances along the creek. I was glad barely to pick up a PINE WARBLER too, which will probably prove to be my only one of the weekend if past patterns prevail. Having added a BLUE-WINGED and CHESTNUT-SIDED WARBLER here too, I had tallied eight warbler species between the two preserves by 7 AM. (I also counted House Sparrows that I heard around the buildings at the intersection of Routes 38 and 366, as I stood at the southeastern corner of the preserve. So much for grand conservation principles behind my "lines are in" policy:) 3. Dorothy McIlroy Bird Sanctuary Lake Como Road, Summerhill 7:45-10:30 AM 48 species, including ALDER FLYCATCHER, RUFFED GROUSE, CANADA WARBLER, BLUE-WINGED WARBLER, MAGNOLIA WARBLER, BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLER, and NORTHERN WATERTHRUSH We began our group walk along Peth Road at the 90-acre tract that the Land Trust recently acquired from the Maneri family. This land comprises some mixed hardwood forest, an open field, and significant frontage among the slow-moving headwaters of Fall Creek. Jason Gorman, who works as the full-time Land Steward at the Land Trust, and Nick Gavrielides, the preserve steward, led us through the area. We heard a fine variety of birds here, including a CANADA WARBLER close to the road, a MAGNOLIA WARBLER in a patch of woods, and a rather unexpected HOUSE WREN along the creek. A male BLUE-WINGED WARBLER obliged us with some long scope views. Regrettably, several others and I missed the Blackburnian Warblers that Suan mentioned earlier. Along the main trail network of the preserve, we found only a subset of the expected breeding birds of the sanctuary, and didn't really get great looks at much. But it was still a joy to walk in the quiet moist woods amid the sounds of BLACK-THROATED GREEN WARBLERS, OVENBIRDS, NORTHERN WATERTHRUSHES, VEERIES, and at least seven ALDER FLYCATCHERS. And Nick, his wife Dorothy, and Betsy Darlington helped all of us to find many exquisite flowers on the forest floor, including lady's slippers, Clintonia lilies, red and painted trillium, and maybe others I forget. John Confer helped us to remember the sanctuary's namesake, Dorothy McIlroy, who never saw the preserve during her long life but seemed very immediately present among us today. I picked up a few other difficult SBQ birds, including a gull (upon reflection I think it was a Herring Gull), a Hairy Woodpecker, and a Ruffed Grouse that I heard flying a short distance in the woods. I ended the morning with 59+ species. Having rested up a bit, I am energized again and may even head out somewhere again tonight. If I do, I'll try to post. If not, I look forward to seeing some of you tomorrow at the Lindsay-Parsons Biodiversity Preserve for the further unfolding of this year's SBQ! Mark Chao --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! 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